Yanji

The runes came in a myriad of styles.

Some had bold, rugged strokes, as if carved into stone with a blade, every line carrying a razor-sharp edge.

Those were the handiwork of a Dao Lord of the Flame Laws. Others had delicate strokes, as if written on xuan paper with a brush, every line carrying a gentle curve. Those were the handiwork of a Dao Lord of the Water Laws. Still others resembled the wind, without any fixed form, roaming across the rock's surface like startled snakes.

Those were the handiwork of a Dao Lord of the Wind Laws.

Different styles, different eras, different Dao Lords.

Yet they coexisted upon the rock, like a structure built jointly by different craftsmen. Each craftsman built his own portion, and when everyone's portions came together, they formed a complete and harmonious whole.

Chu Ming's foot landed upon the rock, and he sensed the temperature beneath it.

The rock was neither cold nor hot. It held a constant warmth, like stone slabs that had been baked beneath the sun.

There was no one on the land.

The runes glowed quietly across the rock's surface, like lamps that had been forgotten.

Chu Ming spread his divine sense across the land.

The land was not large, only several hundred li across, like a mountaintop that had been shaved flat.

His divine sense covered the entire land and detected the auras of two Dao Lords.

One had only just entered the Dao Lord realm.

That aura was light, light as the wind, drifting slowly along the eastern side of the land.

Its direction was never fixed—at times east, at times west, at times upward, at times downward—like a butterfly searching for nectar.

Wind Laws.

Chu Ming identified the type of Law from the fluctuations of that aura.